War lovers of 1945

 Look at the date on this major story (it took up about 15 percent of the whole magazine) in Life magazine:  November 18, 1945.  World War II had ended on September 2, 1945, just about two-and-a-half months before.  And already-- already! -- the smart boys were looking forward to World War III.  And already they knew it would be a nuclear war with ICBMs annihilating cities. 

To me, this is unbelievable.  How could they anticipate the world that came into being about 15 years later and in which we still live?  Why would they want to imagine it and depict it in such detail so soon after the greatest conflict in history had ended with tens of millions dead, empires wrecked, great, historic cities looking from the air like hell with the roof torn off?  I suppose that they published this as a warning in the hope that the prediction, detailed in a speech by Air Force Gen. Hap Arnold, could be prevented.The completeness of the story, focusing on the technology, the weapons, tactics, until the last page, when civilian casualties are mentioned: 40 million dead (out of a then US population of 140 million), every city larger than 50,000 population destroyed, is compelling.

I'm still digesting this story, wondering why it was published so soon after the end of World War II, why it was so accurate a prediction of future global warfare, and what was the intent of publishing it.  But I do find it very disturbing, and dismaying, especially in these times when it seems like the powers that be are intent on making this prediction from the first half of the last century come true.